Montana Lawmaker Wants to Ban Yoga Pants

A Montana representative is introducing a bill to strengthen the state’s indecent exposure laws after a group of naked bicyclists pedaled through the city of Missoula in August.

Rep. David Moore’s proposal would tighten indecent exposure laws to include any nipple exposure—including men’s—and any clothing hat “gives the appearance or simulates” a person’s buttocks, genitals, pelvic area or female nipple, the Associated Press reports.

Tight-fitting clothing—like yoga pants, for example—could also be considered indecent exposure under the law, the Republican lawmaker said. “Yoga pants should be illegal in public anyway,” Moore said after the hearing.

Under current laws in Montana, a person convicted of indecent exposure three times could get a life sentence in jail. Moore’s bill lessens that sentence to a maximum of five years in jail and a $5,000 fine.

State prohibitions on public nudity are constitutional, according to a 1991 Supreme Court case, as nudity itself is not considered an expression of free speech according to the court’s interpretation of the constitution.

Moore drafted the bill after the Bare as you Dare nude bicycling event rode through Missoula last summer, angering residents.